The CPA Consultants’ Alliance recently held a meeting in San Diego (pictured) to discuss key issues facing the profession and a series of podcasts that the working group will be releasing that focus on the future-ready firm. CPACA also announced the addition of a new member, Matt Solomon, chief executive officer at the Center for Enlightened Business, and new leadership. The group approved as officers: Roman Kepczyk, director of firm technology strategy at Right Networks, as president; Jeff Phillips, CEO of Accountingfly and GoingConcern, as vice president/meeting chair; Terry Putney, president at Transition Advisors, as secretary/treasurer; Angie Grissom, president at The Rainmaker Companies, as membership chair; Adelaide Ness, executive vice president at The Rainmaker Companies, as deliverables chair; Tamera Loerzel, partner at ConvergenceCoaching, as marketing chair; and Carrie Steffen, president of The Whetstone Group, as immediate past president.

Armanino, San Ramon, announced the expansion of its privacy services practice to provide a range of solutions addressing privacy and breach notification laws, and comply with new regulations. (Read the full story.)

COLORADO

CPAsNET, Boulder, announced two new chairman of its International Executive Committee: Robert Vawter, of Vawter, Gammon, Norris & Company, as chairman of the Asia Pacific and Japan International Executive Committee; and Christina Tharp, CFO of Hamilton Tharp, as chairman of the Europe, Middle East and Africa International Executive Committee.

CONNECTICUT

The Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation announced the reappointment of Brian W. Caputo to a second term on the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. Caputo began serving as a member of the GASB on July 1, 2015, and is the interim president of the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. FAF, along with the Financial Accounting Standards Board, also announced the appointment of new members to the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and the Investor Advisory Committee. The FAF Board of Trustees appointed Karen Garnett, a partner in the corporate department and a member of the capital markets group at Proskauer Rose, to the FASAC. The FASB appointed two new members to its IAC: Nichole Burnap, a forensic accounting analyst with Glenview Capital, and Mark Hamel, owner of Assay Research.

ILLINOIS

RSM US announced that its U.S. headquarters will be moving to the 30 South Wacker tower of the CME Center in Chicago in late 2020/early 2021. In other firm news, RSM announced the four employee-generated ideas that will receive funding from the firm’s CEO Innovation Fund, the first projects to be given funding under the new program. Those recipients, eligible to receive up to $500,000 to fund the development of internally generated, organic ideas that have the potential to become innovations for the firm and its clients, are: Megan Hostick, a senior associate in Dallas; and teams led by Christi Mack, a partner in Minneapolis; Dean Sengstock, a partner in Minneapolis; and David McLaughlin, a director in Madison, WI, and Marco Carvalho, a manager in New York — both from the Dynamics 365 team.

Crowe, Chicago, introduced Crowe Credit360 for CECL, a technology-enabled model validation solution to help with the new accounting standard that will require financial institutions to change the way they estimate and report allowance for credit losses using the current expected credit loss model.

MINNESOTA

FD Fund Administration, a subsidiary of Frazier & Deeter, opened a new office in Minneapolis, which will include two new team members, Andy Huss and Jon Haidet, who join FD-DA as principals.

NEW JERSEY

The New Jersey Society of CPAs, Roseland, joined NJTV, News 12 New Jersey and Asbury Park Press to conduct Q&A sessions with the public Feb. 27. NJCPA members Kenneth Bagner of SobelCo in Livingston, and Karen Artasanchez of WilkinGuttenplan in East Brunswick, answered tax questions on NJTV’s live broadcast on its Facebook and YouTube pages. The questions were focused on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the state and local tax deduction cap, and other tax season concerns.

NEW YORK

The American Institute of CPAs, New York, selected five firms to participate in the Private Companies Practice Section George Willie Ethnically Diverse Student Scholarship and Internship program. The firms are: Anglin Reichmann Armstrong in Huntsville, Alabama; Aprio in Atlanta; Cover & Rossiter in Wilmington, Delaware; Glenn Burdette in San Luis Obispo, California; and Kreischer Miller in Horsham, Pennsylvania. (Read the full story.)

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners, Mineola, announced the reinstatement and revitalization of its New York City chapter. The chapter held its first meeting on Feb. 6 with a tax update featuring NCCPAP immediate past president Stephen Mankowski as the speaker.

PANAMA

HLB Cheng y Asociados, Panama City, has joined HLB as a member firm of the global network.

PORTUGAL

Santos Vaz Trigo de Morais & Associados, Porto, has joined HLB as a member firm of the global network.

TEXAS

Invoiced, Austin, announced it has registered National Accounts Receivable Appreciation Day with the National Day Archives, with the inaugural celebration happening March 7, 2019. The day will be “a celebration of the people, process, traditions and value of accounts receivable in today’s business world.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has set up a new Office of Enterprise Risk Management, to be led by Sue Lee, who will be the PCAOB’s first chief risk officer. The board also named Eric Hagopian as its first chief data officer. (Read the full story.)